Brian Walton's news and commentary on the St. Louis Cardinals (TM) and their minor league system

Tracking the St. Louis Cardinals hit parade

The St. Louis Cardinals offense is showing signs of life for the first time this season, with a quartet of 14-hit games.

In the midst of a push to reach .500 for the time this season, the 6-7 St. Loius Cardinals improved to 4-3 during their current 10-game West Coast road trip after knocking off the Los Angeles Dodgers by a 9-5 score on Thursday night.

For the fourth straight night, the Cardinals had at least 14 hits and scored at least eight runs. Researcher Tom Orf pulled the following tables, which indicate how rarely this type of proficient hit attack has occurred in recent years and over the long haul.

This is only the second time since 1933 that the Cardinals have strung together four games with 14+ hits. The other was in 1979. Amazingly, nine of the top such streaks occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s.

St. Louis Cardinals, 14+ hits in consecutive games (1920-present)

G

Tm

Start

End

W

L

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SO

BB

SB

CS

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

Opponent

6

STL

8/31/1930

9/7/1930

6

0

234

57

100

20

6

3

54

20

13

3

0

.427

.457

.603

1.060

CHC,PIT,CIN

6

STL

9/9/1922

9/15/1922

4

2

233

62

92

11

5

8

56

21

20

8

8

.395

.447

.588

1.035

CIN,PHI

5

STL

7/11/1923

7/16/1923

4

1

209

54

88

12

3

2

43

12

15

4

1

.421

.462

.536

.998

BSN,PHI

5

STL

6/27/1922

7/1/1922

4

1

207

40

75

16

5

2

39

19

17

1

2

.362

.410

.517

.927

CIN,PIT

4

STL

4/11/2011

4/14/2011+

3

1

168

40

63

15

1

9

38

27

8

0

0

.375

.411

.637

1.048

ARI,LAD

4

STL

5/30/1979

6/2/1979

4

0

157

36

65

8

3

9

34

16

13

5

1

.414

.453

.675

1.129

NYM,LAD

4

STL

6/19/1933

6/22/1933

2

2

164

30

61

17

2

3

29

12

10

2

0

.372

.408

.555

.963

BRO,PHI

4

STL

8/21/1930

8/24/1930

4

0

144

44

62

14

4

1

41

6

17

2

0

.431

.491

.604

1.095

PHI

4

STL

6/22/1930

6/24/1930

3

1

159

41

67

13

5

6

40

15

11

6

0

.421

.465

.679

1.144

PHI,BSN

4

STL

7/28/1928

7/31/1928

3

1

197

44

75

25

1

4

43

6

25

3

0

.381

.455

.579

1.034

PHI

4

STL

5/8/1923

5/11/1923

3

1

167

41

70

17

1

8

39

13

10

7

3

.419

.455

.677

1.132

PHI

The Cardinals are the 23rd team to do this across all of MLB since 1960. The Minnesota Twins had a five-game stretch last season, but no clubs had even four in 2009.

The record over the last 50 years is seven such games, logged by the Atlanta Braves in late July of 1993. Joe Torre’s Cardinals, on their way to a third-place finish, were among their victims.

MLB, 14+ hits in consecutive games (1960-present)

G

Tm

Start

End

W

L

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SO

BB

SB

CS

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

Opponent

7

ATL

7/21/1993

7/27/1993

6

1

284

73

113

17

2

19

68

36

26

4

1

.398

.447

.673

1.120

STL,PIT,COL

5

MIN

7/24/2010

7/28/2010

5

0

209

53

86

18

3

10

52

32

22

3

3

.411

.466

.670

1.136

BAL,KCR

5

ATL

7/25/2003

7/29/2003

3

2

212

49

84

20

1

11

46

21

14

4

1

.396

.444

.656

1.100

MON,HOU

5

OAK

8/22/2002

8/26/2002

5

0

197

46

70

19

3

7

46

20

197

2

1

.355

.416

.589

1.004

CLE,DET,KCR

5

LAD

8/9/1970

8/14/1970

5

0

203

49

84

11

5

4

43

24

20

7

4

.414

.464

.576

1.041

CIN,PIT,CHC

4

STL

4/11/2011

4/14/2011+

3

1

168

40

63

15

1

9

38

27

8

0

0

.375

.411

.637

1.048

ARI,LAD

4

NYM

7/5/2008

7/8/2008

4

0

165

30

59

7

0

6

25

25

12

7

1

.358

.404

.509

.914

PHI,SFG

4

FLA

9/7/2005

9/10/2005

3

1

163

32

60

10

0

3

30

24

16

10

0

.368

.435

.485

.919

WSN,PHI

4

SEA

8/3/2002

8/7/2002

2

2

162

37

60

13

1

7

36

29

17

5

1

.370

.429

.593

1.022

CLE,TOR

4

DET

8/14/2000

8/18/2000

4

0

169

46

68

17

1

8

45

22

15

2

0

.402

.452

.657

1.108

SEA,OAK

4

SFG

6/22/2000

6/25/2000

3

1

164

37

65

12

3

8

37

24

24

2

1

.396

.471

.652

1.123

STL,HOU

4

ARI

5/30/1999

6/2/1999

3

1

169

41

65

14

4

8

40

30

14

4

0

.385

.435

.657

1.092

NYM,MON

4

COL

9/6/1998

9/9/1998

4

0

156

47

68

11

0

7

42

20

23

2

1

.436

.508

.641

1.149

SDP,FLA

4

NYM

5/24/1998

5/29/1998

4

0

157

37

61

16

1

4

35

24

18

0

1

.389

.449

.580

1.029

MIL,FLA,PHI

4

COL

7/23/1996

7/25/1996

3

1

160

36

67

9

1

9

34

21

21

5

3

.419

.486

.656

1.143

NYM,CHC

4

COL

6/27/1996

6/30/1996

3

1

166

52

69

11

0

12

50

31

22

10

0

.416

.481

.699

1.180

LAD

4

BOS

9/27/1995

9/30/1995

3

1

160

36

62

19

2

6

35

19

13

3

1

.388

.436

.644

1.080

DET,MIL

4

SDP

6/27/1994

6/29/1994

2

2

165

37

62

10

3

8

32

24

21

3

1

.376

.450

.618

1.068

COL

4

NYM

6/12/1990

6/15/1990

4

0

168

50

71

23

1

7

49

19

24

1

1

.423

.495

.696

1.191

CHC,PIT

4

STL

5/30/1979

6/2/1979

4

0

157

36

65

8

3

9

34

16

13

5

1

.414

.453

.675

1.129

NYM,LAD

4

PIT

5/3/1967

5/6/1967

4

0

168

28

58

8

1

0

25

27

18

1

0

.345

.419

.405

.824

LAD,SFG

4

PIT

5/22/1965

5/25/1965

4

0

159

32

57

11

0

3

30

13

18

1

4

.358

.427

.484

.911

MLN,CHC

4

CLE

6/8/1962

6/10/1962

3

1

189

41

67

8

2

11

39

39

17

3

0

.354

.407

.593

.999

BOS

Over the entire 2011 season, what will be the Cardinals biggest strength?